Mountain biking is a thrilling sport that appeals to those
looking to quench their thirst for adventure. With its unique and
varied trails, New Zealand is a haven for mountain bikers from all over the world. And, the Queen Charlotte Sound is one of the
most scenic and slightly challenging tracks in the country.

Our recent trip to this track was nothing short of an amazing experience.

Our group of 12 riders, comprising of my self Nomadic Yaz, Camp Dad (Grant), Will, Kirke, JVA,Darren, Brent, Danny, Wynston,James, Nick, and Rob, embarked on this two-day mountain biketrip, which starts at Ships Cove in the beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound.

We had to wake up at 5 am on the Friday morning and make our way to the dock to drop bikes and bags off.
We headed to our usual cafe thanks to the team at Gusto cafe in Picton for fueling us up with coffee and breakfast.

The dock was alive at 6am with hundreds of other riders about to take on the Sounds to Sounds bike race. A challenging 10-15 day race across the South Island.

Luckily our boat was the first boat out of Picton. We loaded our bikes and set sail, across the sound in darkness.
With excitement and anticipation at Ship cove we got a quick group photo and saddled up at 7 am, taking on the Queen Charlotte track.

The sun shone bright in the sky, with the temperature peaking around 28'C - a very warm day for taking on some big hills.
This made much easier for 6 or so of our group who got a memo about E-bikes powered by specialized levo motors!
We have a name for this group but I will keep that to our group.
As we rode along, we took in the the beauty of the sounds
riding through the dense native bush, crossing streams, and
stopping at lookout points to capture the stunning scenery.
in my mind an experience that is hard to put into words even though this was my 3rd time riding the QC.
After quite a few big undulating hills and 1700m vert 6 hours of riding, we reached Portage where we were booked in to Portage resort to spend the night. The resort was nestled in a
beautiful location, in a stunning little bay.

We settled in for evening sinking a few hazy beers with the boys and had a delicious curry. We then hit the sack around 9pm ready for another 50km the following day.

We started the next morning about 9am after a buffet breakfast.
Day 2 was going to be just as challenging as the first day, with several steep hills, the first been a massive 45minute climb out of Portage.
But we knew there was also some great decents to come as we headed over to Anikiwa.
We then made our way to The Queen Charlotte Tavern for lunch about 7km down the road from Anikiwa in a little town called Linkwater a great place for lunch.

Finally, at the end of the day 2 I had realized that yet again we
had traversed one of the most scenic mountain bike tracks in New Zealand.
The experience was only possible thanks to the efforts of our good friend Camp Dad. So thanks Grant!

In conclusion, our recent mountain bike trip on the
QC was yet another awesome adventure with the gang.
We had experienced breathtaking
scenery, great banter, conquered challenging terrain, and created memories that will last a lifetime. It was the perfect reminder that life is all about taking risks embarking on great adventures with a good friends living in the moment and challenging ourselves.

Nomadic Yaz